Samsung is again the world’s top smartphone seller
Samsung has recovered the top position in the global smartphone market, according to a Strategy Analytics report covering Q1 2015.
Samsung has lost the sales leadership to Apple in Q4 2014, according to some research firms, while in Strategy Analytics’ estimation the two companies tied for the first place with a 19.6 percent market share. Blowout iPhone 6 sales have helped Apple interrupt Samsung’s years-long run at the top, but it didn’t take long for Samsung to recover.
Samsung has shipped an estimate 83.2 million smartphones in Q1 2015, compared to 74.5 million in the previous quarter. Combined with Apple’s slowdown (61.2 million, compared to 74.5 million in the previous quarter), that gave Samsung a market share of 24.1 percent, a significant lead over Apple’s 17.7 percent.
Samsung’s jump comes despite the fact that Q1 is typically slower than Q4, and despite of strong competition from Apple at the high-end, and Chinese brands in the mid- and low-end.
Coming in third in Strategy Analytics’ ranking is Lenovo–Motorola with 5.4 percent, while Huawei ranked fourth, with 5 percent. All other players are lumped in the “others” group (47.7 percent).
Looking at the shifts in market shares quarter over quarter, Samsung is the only top player that has gained share, seemingly at the expense of everyone else. That’s good news for the embattled company, though Samsung also needs the average selling price of its phones to increase in order to return to growth. Samsung just announced its Q1 2015 results today, and ASP has actually decreased, which took its toll on revenue.
All eyes are now on the performance of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Signs are very positive so far, so Samsung will likely preserve its dominance in the quarters to come. But while profits may recover as well, it’s safe to say that the days of explosive growth are over for Samsung.
Lenovo Launches ThinkCentre Chromebox
Lenovo has added another member to its ThinkCentre Tiny business desktop family: the ThinkCentre Chromebox. The one litre device is made with education and small business in mind, giving a user all the power necessary to learn or serve customers more efficiently. The minuscule desktop combines efficiency with affordability to make the best choice for a desktop for a school or small business. The Chrome OS is easy to set-up and use, and also easy to control for any IT Managers. The desktop will also combine with the Tiny-in-One to provide a 23-inch all-in-one experience.
The Chromebox Tiny will be released in June and will cost $200, and the Tiny-in-One is already available for $280.
Source: Lenovo
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Lenovo K80 offers Intel processor, 4GB RAM, and sub-$300 price tag
The Asus Zenfone 2 may have been the world’s first smartphone to offer 4GB RAM, but it’s far from the only option heading our way. Lenovo has now announced its own 4GB RAM-packing handset, the Lenovo K80.
Like the Zenfone 2, the K80 is powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom processor, with other specs including a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 64GB storage, a 13MP camera with OIS, a 4,000 mAh battery, and Android 5.0 Lollipop running Lenovo’s custom skin. The Lenovo K80 is priced aggressively at 1,799 CNY, or about $290. There will also be a cheaper variant with less storage and just 2GB RAM.
Read also: Asus Zenfone 2 full review
While the Zenfone 2 is slowly making its way to more countries, with a possible US release sometime in the future, the Lenovo K80 is currently only announced for China with a release slated for April 30th. It’s possible that the K80 could reach at least a few other markets, but we can’t say where at this point.
What do you think of Lenovo’s latest, who do you feel it compares to the Zenfone 2, based on specs, pricing, and looks?
LA’s school board would like all of that iPad money back now, please
Look up the word bungled in a dictionary, and you’ll find the definition of the word, so if you want to see what it looks like in practice, head to L.A.. The state’s problematic program to get iPads into the hands of low-income students has backfired so spectacularly the school district is now looking for a complete refund. According to the L.A. Times, the state’s education board has been having secret meetings with lawyers and has already told Apple and Pearson that it won’t accept or pay for future deliveries of tablets and software.
The $1.3 program has attracted plenty of controversy, and even the FBI has been called in to investigate if a dodgy deal had been made. The paper has also dished the dirt on an internal report from March made by program director Bernadette Lucas. She found that only two out of the 69 schools in the program used the software created by education partner Pearson. The company draws plenty of fire, and is accused of not producing enough content and giving little thought to students whose first language wasn’t English.
Apple and Pearson may be the most notable names on the district’s shit list, but similarly nasty letters have also been sent to Lenovo and Arey Jones for similar projects. The paper’s report ends by saying that the school districts are hopeful that affordable and useful technology will make its way into education, but until that point, officials have just authorized the purchase of new mathematics textbooks.
Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Lenovo
Source: L.A. Times
Moto 360 drops to $165 on Google’s store
If you’ve been toying with getting an Android-powered smartwatch but have been turned off by the $200-plus price tags, now’s a good time to dive in. Google’s device store is offering the Moto 360 with a leather strap for $165, or $85 off — not bad for wristwear that’s several months old. And should Google run out, you can score the wearable for a slightly higher $180 at Amazon and Best Buy. Motorola is likely just clearing out stock ahead of a sequel, but that’s not a bad thing if you’re more interested in putting a device on your arm than owning the latest and greatest.
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile, Lenovo
Via: Droid-Life
Source: Google Store
Life with the Moto 360: has Motorola’s smartwatch turned a corner?
When the Moto 360 first hit the scene, its reception was… mixed. That round display was eye-catching, but it couldn’t make up for the smartwatch’s all-too-short battery life and undercooked software. Times have changed, though. Motorola trotted out updates that addressed the 360’s early problems, and the Lollipop upgrade gave Android Wear a new lease on life through custom watch faces and a few other useful tweaks. But does that mean it deserves a second chance, especially now that rivals like LG’s G Watch R are vying for your wrist?
I’ll tackle the big question up-front: battery life wasn’t an issue. I could wear the Moto 360 throughout a typical day and still have a significant charge left when I was ready to go to bed. That was no mean feat for me, since I usually have to deal with a steady stream of Hangouts messages and work email. Having said this, I was very, very thankful for the 360’s wireless charging dock. Smartwatches needing clip-on cradles or cables are often a hassle, but Motorola’s wristwear was so easy to top up that I hardly even thought about it.
I’m also a fan of the design, for the most part. I never completely forgot about the black strip at the bottom of the display that creates a “flat tire” look, but it also wasn’t distracting (at least not on my all-black model). The leather strap makes the 360 extra comfortable, and the circular design is subtle enough that I didn’t feel conspicuously geeky most of the time. However, there’s no question that it could stand to be smaller. That 46mm-diameter case is enormous, at least on my moderately sized adult male arm. That’s true of a lot of smartwatches (the ASUS ZenWatch is particularly huge), but there’s something to be said for the discreetness of a smaller device like the 38mm Apple Watch.
The software is a tougher call, even if it’s mostly a positive experience. Android Wear is supremely handy for the basic information I like to see over the course of a day, like weather or sports scores. And in a chilly Ottawa winter, it was more than a little helpful to respond to Hangouts messages or check in to Swarm without reaching for my phone and freezing my hands in the process. The Lollipop update also added quite a few features and overall polish that were missing the first time around. It was nice to have a wide choice of watch faces, for example, and I could tune out most alerts if I set the 360 to only give me priority notifications. I didn’t have to use that last mode very often, but I was happy to know I could avoid information overload when necessary.
However, it’s all too apparent that Android Wear still needs more time in the oven. For one thing, its approach to apps is backward — unless I was launching something I had recently used, I had to go to the very bottom of a long menu just to start browsing the app list.
The interface isn’t that great at surfacing the information I need at the time I need it, for that matter. Spotify’s Android Wear card always showed up on cue, but Sonos’ controls appeared inconsistently even when there was music playing. And the watch frequently defaulted to showing apps that weren’t really relevant to the situation at hand; no, I don’t need to check out my fitness goals in the middle of the workday. Google may be right that watches are primarily about receiving passive streams of information, but that doesn’t excuse doing a poor job when I want to be more active.
Even with those quirks in mind, it’s pretty clear the Moto 360 has turned a corner in half a year’s time. It’s no longer the underdeveloped novelty that it was on launch, and it’s now my pick of the current Android Wear crop. True, it doesn’t have the G Watch R’s true circular display, the ZenWatch’s custom software or the Sony Smartwatch 3’s GPS, but I’d say of the three, it strikes the best balance between looks, functionality and price. About the only thing holding back the 360 is the software, but it’s already apparent from the Lollipop update that Google is determined to quickly improve Android Wear. If you’re happy with the current feature set, the 360 is a great buy — and I’m glad I can say that given its rough start.
Moto CEO for 2015: no tablets, no smaller flagships, Moto Maker expansion, and more
Motorola CEO Rick Osterloh took to Twitter to answer questions from Moto fans and revealed a few hints about the Lenovo-owned company’s plans for this year.
Starting with Lenovo, the executive said Motorola employees already feel at home in the Lenovo fold, and that the Chinese company gave them a “very warm welcome.” Motorola has been officially integrated into Lenovo on October 30, following a $2.9 billion purchase from Google; since then, representatives of both companies said that Motorola enjoys extended autonomy and that it would remain Lenovo’s main brand in the Western markets.
While Motorola has established a strong foothold in several big markets from around the world (Brazil, India, and China included), the company will continue to expand in 2015, with Central and Easter Europe singled out by Osterloh as targets. Moreover, Brazil is said to be a priority for the expansion of the Moto Maker program.
Asked if Motorola plans to release new tablets in the close future, Osterloh said there are no such plans and pointed towards tablet offerings from Lenovo, including the Yoga line. Motorola’s last tablet was released in 2011. That contradicts the statements of Lenovo boss Yang Yuanqing, who said in October that Motorola-branded tablets are in the pipeline.
There are no plans either for a Motorola flagship that is smaller than five inches. Motorola will probably keep the display of the Moto X (2015) to at least 5.2-inch, though an even larger screen is also a strong possibility.
Osterloh said Motorola will stick to its roughly annual release cycle for the next Moto X, meaning a release in early fall is likely.
“Contextual awareness, Moto Maker options and “premium value”” are Motorola’s main points of focus for its upcoming devices. Osterloh hinted that Moto Maker might be enhanced with more materials, joining the wood and leather “natural” options currently available.
Overall, the company hopes to “expand consumer choices (price points and options), expand our country reach and introduce cool new innovations.”
Osterloh also revealed that Lollipop for the Moto X (2013) is in early testing, that Motorola would love Android Wear to work with iOS (no plans though), and that an LTE variant of the Moto G (2014) is coming “pretty soon.”
More on Rick Osterloh’s Twitter feed.
Motorola lacks “any plans” for tablets, points to Lenovo for that
Lenovo sells multiple tablets. Motorola sells none. Don’t expect that to change for the foreseeable future. Rick Osterloh, Motorola’s President, hosted a brief Q&A session on Twitter earlier today in which he shot down the idea of the company releasing a tablet this year.
During the #AskRickO forum, Osterloh was asked if Motorola would be involved with tablets in 2015 to which he responded that “we don’t have any plans.” Instead, he redirected interested consumers to Lenovo’s tablet lineup. Motorola’s parent company currently sells sixteen Android and Windows tablets through its own online store. There, Osterloh believes a consumer can find a fitting tablet. Osterloh specifically recommended one of the YOGA tablets introduced in late 2014.
Source: Rick Osterloh (Twitter)
Via: Phone Arena
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Lenovo announces the K3 Note phablet with mid-range specs
Lenovo has announced a new phablet to tackle the mid-range market called the Lenovo K3 Note. This phone is pretty similar to the smaller Lenovo K3 that was announced awhile back, but features some improved hardware and an obviously larger screen.
The K3 Note has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek processor, and 2 GB of RAM. You’ll find 16 GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot, plus a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front facing camera. A big bonus is that the phone supports dual-SIM cards, so it’ll be a pretty flexible device.
The phone, like the Lenovo K3, has a very bright, very yellow finish. For some people, that might be a little too loud, but if you want something unique that stands out, or you just like color, it can be a pretty cool design.
Lenovo is starting the pricing for the K3 Note at about $145. It’s definitely a very capable, very cheap device, but don’t expect an international release anytime soon.
source: GSM Arena
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Which all-in-one desktops are worth buying?
As laptops continue to become more powerful, there’s still plenty of room for an all-in-one desktop in your life. Their slim profile makes them a bit more desk- or living room-friendly than a typical tower PC, while the large built-in screen is great for getting work done or watching a movie. To help you decide which units are worthy enough to grace your office or den, we’ve taken a look at reviews from trusted critics to find systems that can handle a variety of tasks, including editing documents, watching movies and even some hardcore gaming. Check out the gallery below to see five of the better all-in-one desktops available now, as well as one we’d rather you didn’t buy.
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